But as PEOPLE’s exclusive first look at her top-secret character reveals, she has at least inherited Leia’s hairdo!

In PEOPLE’s special Star Wars collector’s edition, on newsstands today, Lourd reveals she had an obsession with the original movie when she was growing up.

“I made [my mom] watch it at least once a week – and on special occasions I would make her get in a lightsaber fight with me,” Lourd, 23, says. “Let’s just say the more trained Jedi usually won.”

Billie Lourd in Star Wars: The Force AwakensLUCASFILM 2015

Lourd’s destiny at first seemed to take a different path from her mom and dad’s (her father is CAA superagent Bryan Lourd). At 19, she was studying religion and psychology at New York University. At that age, her mom started production on the original movie as the now-iconic Princess Leia, up to her hair buns in a galactic war.

Carrie Fisher as Princess LeiaLucasfilm LTD.

See exclusive photos, get a first look at new characters and learn more secrets from the cast and crew of Star Wars: The Force Awakens in PEOPLE’s Star Wars collector’s edition, on newsstands Dec. 9. And for more exclusive Star Wars news, come back to PEOPLE.com every day until it hits theaters Dec. 18

PEOPLE’s Star Wars collector’s edition, on newsstands Dec. 9

But after graduating from NYU last year, Lourd has reclaimed her destiny; her family is strong in the ways of Hollywood, after all.

She costars on the Fox TV show Scream Queens. While the name of her The Force Awakens character still hasn’t been revealed, Lourd says her mom’s portrayal of Leia has long been an inspiration for her.

“When I saw the [original] movie for the first time, I noticed my mom was not only equally as confident and strong as the men, she was one of the most confident characters in the entire film,” Lourd says. “It made me realize women are just as powerful as men and that we can truly do anything they can – if not more!”